Liberty City.

According to the Grand Theft Auto series, it’s the “worst city in America”. Car jackings, murders, armed robbery… There’s a plethora of crime being committed every hour of every day. While it could just be because the cops suck, it could also be because it isn’t Spidey’s neighborhood. Welcome to New York City, Spidey’s neighborhood.

Like the movie, Spider-Man 2 takes place two years after the events that happened in the 2002 blockbuster, and this time around the gameplay is even better. Treyarch and Activision have gone to great lengths to not only tie the game’s storyline closely to the movie’s, but to also ensure that this is the most authentic, invigorating, and overall fun swing through New York ever…and they did one hell of a job.

While there’s plenty of good to talk about in Spider-Man 2, there is a negative to bring up, and let’s get it out of the way before we go down Spidey’s long list of pros.

The graphics aren’t as spectacular as the game’s name would imply. While the actual island of Manhattan looks amazing, and, believe it or not, doesn’t have any slowdown, it’s more the character models that are so disappointing. The Spidey model used actually looks worse than the 2002 model, and that’s just downright inexcusable. Aside from a nice sheen that appears on the web part of his costume from time to time, the closer you get to your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, the worse he looks. There is some redemption in the form of a nicely rendered Black Cat, as well as some other great looking guest stars like Rhino and Mysterio, but it’s hardly enough to justify the Big Apple’s blocky, terrible looking citizenry.

Games aren’t built on just eye candy, however, and thankfully there’s a whole web full of other things to enjoy in Spider-Man 2, starting with the sound.

Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, and the new standard of villainy, Alfred Molina, all lend their voices to the three lead characters, Spider-Man, Mary Jane, and the baddest ass yet, Doc Ock, respectively. However, the music is somewhat disappointing, as you won’t hear any of the powerful orchestral scores from the movie. While the replacement tunes are generic, they still work well enough with up-tempo beats during chase scenes or rescues, and more relaxing backgrounds while you’re swinging through New York clearing your head. And speaking of swinging…

All of NYC is now at your disposal, and the best part is that the intuitive new controls and abilities literally make the city your playground. And come on…you know you’ve always wanted to use a one-hundred and fifty story skyscraper as a swing. You can walk and play around on any roof you want, but movement on foot feels digital and uncomfortable, with your only option to walk or run with no in between. Thankfully, Spider-Man isn’t known for commuting on foot, and the new web physics make just swinging around the city more fun than you could possibly believe without experiencing it yourself.

The best way to capitalize on the sheer joy of travel in Spider-Man 2 is probably the game’s greatest strength. Dubbed Grand Theft Arachnid by some for its new open-ended play style, you can literally do anything you want, anytime you want. The game moves at your own pace, and you don’t have to progress unless you want to. The downside, however, is that even if you move at a slow pace, you’ll still complete the game’s story rather quickly.

Simply tearing through the game with no more intention than to defeat Doc Ock will only yield ten hours of playtime, if you’re lucky. The bright side to this, however, is that the game is hardly over after you’ve beaten Otto and saved the city. With the Mary Jane missions, the Pizza Deliveries, the race challenges, the photography missions, and the Skyscraper, Buoy, Secret, and Hidden Base tokens to be found, you’re looking at hours and hours of gameplay.

While there sadly is no multiplayer or Live support for Spider-Man 2, when you factor in the new combat engine and the dozens of upgrades for Spidey’s skills that you can purchase with Hero Points (credit you earn from doing heroic deeds), Spider-Man 2 is definitely a long-term, offline project for solo gamers.

Considering how steep the learning curve is, that’s a good thing. While it is possible to pick-up-and-play, true mastery of Spider-Man’s talents takes time, commitment, and patience. If it sounds hard to web swing into a wall run, grab a little girl’s balloon as you jump off the wall to attack a thug, and yank another goon into the air with you as you drop, then you’re beginning to understand how complex some of these move combinations can be. The beauty, however, is that the aforementioned combination is one of countless that you can create yourself on the fly. You’ll be thanking Treyarch for this complexity, as no game has ever so accurately captured Peter Parker’s ability to do whatever a spider can.

Spider-Man 2 is truly a breathtaking experience for any fan of the wall-crawler, and is definitely a must-have for any true believers’ collection. Even if you’ve never read a comic, it’s worth a look for any who aren’t.

Pros:

• Incredibly fun to just swing around New York.
  
• Best. Spider-Man game. Ever.
  
• Best. Superhero game. Ever.
  
• Near endless side quests and secrets.
  
• Scale model of Manhattan. Really.
  
  

  Cons:
  

  • The graphics could have been much better.
    
  • No Danny Elfman orchestral scores? For shame
    
  • Incredibly short story.